Paraphrasing and Quoting: Bulleted and Numbered Lists

Last modified April 10, 2017

Even when numbered or bulleted lists are cited, they must still be quoted or paraphrased properly. You can choose either to: 1) paraphrase completely (see Paraphrasing and Quoting Responsibly), 2) format the list as a block quote pulled verbatim from the source, or 3) cite and quote individual borrowed language. NOTE: Whether paraphrasing or quoting, always cite the source!

How to Cite a Paraphrased Bulleted or Numbered List When paraphrasing items in a list, use a signal phrase or citation in the paragraph text before the list.

How to Cite a Block Quote Bulleted or Numbered List

Bulleted or numbered lists taken directly from a source can function as block quotes, which don’t need quotation marks around the text. In the paragraph text before the list, introduce the source with a signal phrase, using verbs such as “stated” or “declared.” Then include a citation after the last list item. If the list ends with a period, place your citation after that period. If you change or add language within the list [make sure to do so in brackets].

How to Directly Quote Individual Bulleted or Numbered List Items

When paraphrasing some list items and quoting others, use a citation or signal phrase in the paragraph text before the list, and include quotation marks and a citation with the directly quoted language. If the list ends with a period, place your citation before that period (unless using footnotes, which always appear after the period).

From the Naval Postgraduate School’s Graduate Writing Center and Thesis Processing Office, located in the Dudley Knox Library and online at https://my.nps.edu/web/gwc and https://my.nps.edu/web/thesisprocessing. Last modified April 10, 2017

Why and How to Paraphrase Properly

To paraphrase means to describe a source’s passage completely in your own words, and with your own sentence structure. Changing a source’s words here and there, or adding words to a source’s sentence, is known as “patchwork” or “mosaic” plagiarism—it is not proper paraphrasing. Paraphrase when a source’s passage is complex, or written in a way that doesn’t match your writing style. Paraphrase, for example, a short paragraph describing new DOD policy.

Paraphrasing allows you to strategically incorporate trusted information through the lens of your paper (your specific focus, audience, and argument) and your lens as a writer (your voice and style). Direct quotes do not show your analysis of a source. Paraphrasing shows your ability to think critically about the topic and understand others’ research. Generally, not more than 10 percent of a standard paper should be directly quoted material; the majority of text should be your own.

Steps toward a proper paraphrase:

1. Actively read source text until you truly understand the information. 2. Take notes in your own words, using quotation marks to clearly indicate key terms and borrowed phrases/language. 3. Working from your notes—not from the source—craft sentences using your own voice, language, and structure. * Tip: If your paraphrased sentence is still too close to the original, start by finding the sentence’s primary subject and verb. Then, using your own knowledge of the topic, reframe the sentence with these terms but from a new angle.

Formatting Rules for Direct Quotes

To quote means to take a source’s words directly/verbatim. Generally, directly borrowed language of about five words or more must appear in quotation marks. Many citation styles require page numbers for direct-quote citations. Use a quote when information is clear, accessible, and brief, or when language is particularly powerful or of historic importance. Quote, for example, a precisely worded definition, legally binding declaration, controversial statement, or line from a famous speech.

• Use [brackets] around clarifying language you have changed or added into a direct quote. However, if you find you must frequently add or change language to clarify, it may be best to paraphrase the information instead. Example: Well into the nineteenth century, as political scientist Mavis Bachman discovered, “the word [democracy] was repeatedly used by conservatives to smear opponents of all kinds” (2014, p. 32).

• Use an ellipsis to indicate if you drop words mid-sentence. Example: “We the People of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union … do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”43

• “For quotes within quotes, use ‘single quotation marks’ for the inside pair” [3].

• Use a block quote when you are quoting more than five lines from the original. Introduce the block quote with a source signal phrase. Indent the quoted text one-half inch from each regular margin. Single-space the block quote. Add a citation at the end of the block quote.

• For quotes within block quotes, use “regular double quotation marks” for the internally quoted material.

• Insert [sic] into a direct quote to indicate an error was the source author’s and not your own. You do not need to use [sic] to indicate a variant spelling—for example, if quoting a British source that spells “color” as “colour.” Example: Historian Charles Bear argued in 1999 that “most of the drafters of the Constitution viewed demorcacy [sic] as something rather to be dreaded then [sic] encouraged” (p. 407).

• “If you add emphasis (italics, boldface, underline, etc.) that did not appear in the original source, indicate so after the closing quotation marks” (emphasis added).